Project Earth
by Animaine Sparkster
Summary: When the lowliest of the Diamonds sends a small band of followers to a tiny blue ball of mud 1000 light years away, she has every intention of making life better for gem-kind. She didn't, however, plan on causing a revolutionary war against the planet she once called home.
1. Hostile Environments

**Chapter 1: Hostile environments.**

The stratosphere is violent with activity. Lightning dashes from cloud to cloud. A great sight to see, but very poor landing weather. Nevertheless, a saucer shaped spacecraft navigates carefully through the chaos. Its pilot, a tall slender woman with pale skin and a Pearl shaped jewel on her forehead, is confident in her ability to land in these conditions. The same couldn't be said for her engineer, a red skinned stocky figure who was barely thigh high to her pilot. She had seen what lightening does to those not unfortunate souls who had face to face interaction with it. "Hey!", the tiny red woman yells, "that one almost got us!"

"Relax Ruby, I've done this a million times." Replied the pilot pearl. As she steered the vessel deeper through the clouds, land was becoming visible. "See? We made it! Next time you'll think twice before-" her self congratulatory speech is cut short by a sharp striking noise at the back of the ship. They had, indeed, been struck by lightning. "oh no! No no no this can't happen!" Shrieked one of the crew members as she welded her hind parts to her seat. A calm and collected teammate with dark chocolate skin and hair as white as the lightening itself attempted to calm her down, "Oh shut up. I raised the shields. What kind of cretin do you take me for?"

Sirens blare and lights flash a thousand times or more as the spaceship careens through the sky, free from lightening but not from danger. The crew, for the most part, osculates from full panic mode to hopelessness. But the 4 in control: Pearl, Ruby, Onyx, and Amber, keep their composure. Or rather, their fear doesn't manifest in flailing arms and screeching cries. Pearl buries herself into landing the ship, so as far as she was concerned there was no time for fear. Ruby keeps a close eye on the engine and reactor levels, adjusting the temperature of each as needed. If any fear resided in her, she soon purged herself of this fear with fire. Onyx, the ship's gunner, and Amber, the co-pilot, simply sat back to enjoy the ride. They are cynical enough to appreciate the irony of the possibility of dying during a planet land. As time passes, the warning sirens recede. The craft comes close to the ground and deployed landing gear. The loud hum of its engine comes to silence. Around the ship, local life forms are thrown into a puzzling predicament: Investigate this strange creature and risk death, or run as fast as these sinewy legs can care. Most chose the latter, but two humans slink from behind rocks to investigate. As they approach the vessel, a door opens in the its side and a walkway descends. Pearl emerges first, her slender silhouette accentuated by the light emitting from the inside of the ship. "So much green." She says, patting herself on the back again. "This is really it? This place looks like slag on wheels" says Onyx, always ready to offer a retort to someone's good time. "Lets go!" Shouts Ruby as she all but shoves Pearl off of the ship to make her way down the walkway.

Pearl continues surveying the land. When her eyes cease to be effective measures of judgment, she signals to Amber for assistance, and Amber begrudgingly complies. She squats down close to the ground and lays her chubby yellow hands onto the soil, sending out pulses of light energy through the ground. The light bounces off of every rock, every grain of soil, and returns to Amber with a detailed report of its composition. Amber sends out waves for about 30 seconds until she has a comprehensive report of the surrounding 30 miles worth of land. "Fertile. Very fertile." Amber says in a monotone voice. "Here's a good enough spot. No. 100 paces west. And down into the valley."

"Now that's what I call results!" Pearl exclaims. She hurries her subordinates and partners in the aforementioned direction. As they proceed, they're met by a small band of humans who are frozen by fear at the sight of their new planet-guests. Pearl, being the most level headed of the group and its self appointed leader, approached the frightened humans. "What is she doing?! They could be hostile! The trip is all for nothing if they kill us now," one gem underling whispers loudly. "Do you do anything other than worry?" Onyx replies in her usual flippant candor. The humans inch back, unsure what to make of these colorful women walking towards them. "HELLO!" Pearl says to them. "WE-ARE-NOT-GOING TO-HURT-YOU! WE COME IN PEACE"

"They're not deaf, Pearl" says Ruby, eager to begin their project. Pearl resumes her introduction. "My name is Pearl. PEEAARRLLL. can you say 'Pearl'?"

The human mouths the word he's just heard. Then he says it allowed. "Very good!" Pearl congratulates.

"If she asks him to take us to their leader I'm throwing her off this cliff," Jokes Onyx with crossed arms. With a stifled grin, Ruby looks up to Onyx and the two snicker at the thought of Pearl flailing her limbs as she flies through the air. Pearl ignores her peanut gallery and continues cheering for the human and one reaches out to touch her, but he is yanked back by his fellow primate. "No! Too dangerous! Go back! Tell the chief," the more aggressive human says with a spear pointed at Pearl. "Looks like someone wants to get rowdy," says Onyx as she holds her right hand forward. Her fist flows and begins to form a crossbow when Pearl steps in and lowers it. "No," she interjects, "there is to be no fighting with the locals! Pink Diamond made that very clear. We don't want a repeat of Absolon2." Onyx reluctantly complies but grumbles to herself, " _you_ don't want a repeat of Absolon 2. _I_ had fun." As the two gems bicker, Ruby calls for crew members to begin unloading materials from the ship. A group of rubies exit the ship in a single file line, each one carrying a container of raw materials that will be used for the venture. Some contain what appears to be pieces of scrap metal, others house a colorful gelatin like substance. The humans, who are now severely outnumbered, take this opportunity to run off to alert their neighbors of the alien visitors. Pearl is shocked to turn around and see them gone, but also relieved to have one less conflict on her hands. The gems around her begin setting up the materials unloaded. One of the rubies dumps the scrap metal on the ground and presses a button on one of the pieces, causing it to assemble itself into a large cylindrical machine with 4 legs and a drill at its base. Two other rubies complete its assembly as one climbs atop the machine and places a large gemstone on its head, while the other opens a glass hatch at the from of the machine and places an organic bag of the colorful gelatin inside. The commanding Ruby, distinct with her red headband and sleeveless maroon uniform, looks over it to judge its assembly. "Not bad, 460. Hey, 227! Open that hatch and secure the temselen! It cant be injected if it's not attached properly!"

One last ruby exits the ship carrying a burgundy and gold stone almost as tall as she is and places at Pearl's feet. "Ah! A wailing stone! Perfect. It is about time I touched base with Home," Pearl says as she lays her hand on top of the stone and begins speaking into a round hole carved in its face.

Approximately 1000 light years away, on a planet 3 times the size of earth, a small blue gem with long flowing light blue hair receives Pearl's message. Her meeting with another gem is interrupted by Pearl's words;

"Calling Sapphire! Landfall successful! Construction of the Kindergarten underway. Met locals, not threatening. Inform Pink at once! Over!"

The neighboring gem leans down to examine the wailing stone. "You guys still use these things? I thought you would've upgraded to the visio-grams by now."

Sapphire sits calmly and replies. "We lack the necessary resources to construct them. The Pink Quadrant is falling behind the rest of the planet."

"You know the embargo still stands. Couldn't tell you why, though."

"Simple. Yellow Diamond doesn't approve of Pink's ruling to allow perma-fusion in our quadrant, so she protests the decision by refusing to send us support. The other Diamonds naturally follow suit. They can't risk being seen as fusion sympathizers."

"That's terrible! Difference of political views shouldn't sentence you guys to poverty!"

"Well its nice to know we have at least one sympathetic gem in the Yellow Quadrant. I'm sorry to cut this short, but as you've just heard, I have a message for Pink Diamond."

"Nah, its ok. We should meet up again, though. Come on, see me out."

"Of course, Topaz."

The two gem diplomats make small talk as they exit the designated meeting area and walk into a busy street. Some commotion is causing a crowd to form just outside the doorway. As Topaz fishes through bodies and near the center, she begins to hear voices. "This is insanity! The Diamonds have gone too far! This is cold blooded murder!" Sapphire levitates up to the top of the meeting house to get a closer look. She sees a four armed gem on her knees being held in place by two gems with huge wild hair and broad intimidating shoulders. One of them, covered in red and orange stripes, addresses the crowd. "Silence! This isn't Pink's country! This...thing knew the risk. She gambled and lost! And now its time to make an example of her!" Despite having superior strength, the fusion remains in place to accept her punishment. The large striped gem takes out a long rod surging with yellow bolts of energy and jams it straight into the fusion's temple. She jolts for a few moments with painful tear filled eyes and gritted teeth, then freezes in place. Her body de-materializes in a most grotesque way; her limbs crumble and fall away like old cake. The same colorful goo that was being handled by the gems on Earth oozes from her mouth. In her final seconds, she turns and locks eyes with Topaz, who has made it to the front of the crowd. Her body then vanishes in a large cloud of dust the same turquoise color of her skin. In its place lie two gemstones which are picked up by the large warrior gems. "Take them away for harvesting," says one of them.

The crowd looks on with a mixture of judgment and horror on their faces. Sapphire maintains her composure, but inside she is trembling with fear and anger. If these emotions were tangible she would burst. Topaz was far more visibly disturbed. She is shaken to the core of her gem. In an attempt to maintain decorum she hurries away to her transport to return to the comfort of her home. Sapphire follows suit with her wailing stone in tow. On the ride back to the Pink Quadrant her mind races with visions of futures imminent and potential. But her ability to see the future isn't assuaging the pain of what she's just seen. So she does what she always does when her mind is a hornet's nest, she sings. She sings low, but her beautiful voice resonates and soothes her racing mind and heart. The harmony parting from her full lips keeps her mind off of the anarchy in her mind long enough to get her back into familiar territory without having a nervous breakdown.


	2. Lessons in Force

**(chapter note: Italicized words with a *in front of them denote a character having a star eyed moment)**

For about a half hour, the transport flies through the air along the designated skyways of the Yellow Quadrant. As it gets closer to the Pink, the skyways disappear and the transport descends to the ground, where its 6 flight stabilizers operate as legs to travel the rest of the trip. Sapphire is relieved to look out of her window and see familiarity. The pristine spires and reflective golden streets of the Yellow Quadrant fade away, replaced by the rather ancient rectangular buildings of her home quadrant. She can see neighboring gems in the windows, tending to daily activities. Such a simple sight, but she takes comfort in the mundane. Being tethered to reality is paramount with the constant chance to see the futures of every entity you've ever met. Normally, Sapphire can easily keep the visions at bay until she has need for them, and she can sift through the visions at will. When stressed out, however, they come without warning or censorship. This was the way they came in her early years, and this is how they're coming now. But with her soothing singing, and the relief of being home, her resolve is building back up. She is nearly back to her normal perfectly stoic self as her destination comes within eyesight: The Pink Palace, as it's commonly referred to.

Sapphire has never been so relieved to see those surrounding run down structures and neglected streets in all of her life. The main city isn't as decrepit as the rest of the Quadrant. Its structures are intact, for the most part, and there's plenty of activity on the streets with friends and business partners barking back and forth. There's also the occasional brawl, a test of might or a means to settle a dispute without involving the authorities. Still, it it's hundreds of years behind the Blue and White Quadrant, and nearly 1000 years behind Yellow. None of this matters to Sapphire. She's just happy to be home, and she still has a mission to complete; she has to meet Pink Diamond to relay the results of her meeting with Topaz and to update her on the status of "Project Earth".

Sapphire exits, thanks the driver and makes her way through the front door and up the main stairwell. The guards give her no static, she's a familiar face. Had she been in one of the more modern quadrants, door guards would've been unnecessary. The entrances to important buildings, such as this, would be equipped with gem cut scanners to verify the identity of each entering gem. But such luxuries were nowhere to be seen in Pink Country. Again, Sapphire doesn't mind.. She doesn't mind the long walk to the too, either. Her mind still needs time to wander. The images in her head are still too unsettling to put into words. Her singing continues. Suddenly, her internal movie is bombarded with sounds of laughter. A very familiar, high gravelly laughter. _Her_ laughter. The laughter is followed by images of _her_ perfectly imperfect face. A square face with strong features, but pieced together delicately. And _her_ eyes. Those lively fiery eyes. But _she_ isn't here. _She_ had been tasked with making the expedition to Earth. And so she isn't here to comfort Sapphire as only she could. For now, visions would have to do. And they do their job well, taking Sapphire's mind off of the horrible things she had witnessed today both in the present and in the future. Before Sapphire knows it, she reaches the throne room. Her body auto piloted all the way there. She is greeted by a tall gem with similar skin color and expressive eyes. "Sapphy! You made it baaaack!" She yells as she jumps over and hugs Sapphire tightly. "It's nice to see you too, Aqua," Sapphire replies in a struggling voice. Aquamarine continues to shower her friend with concern, "I was soooo worried about you! It's always a crap shoot when someone goes to the Yellow Quadrant. Yellow's enforcers are looking for any reason to harvest someone these days." Sapphire freezes. The image of the fusion's death had just receded into the corners of her mind, but now they were made fresh again. And the burly gems who executed her? No doubt the enforcers Aquamarine spoke of. But in classic Sapphire fashion, she hides her true emotions behind a perfect poker face. "Yes," she replies, "they were quite attentive. They knew I had official business there, though. Is Pink busy? I'm here to give her some updates."

"She's expecting you! Go on in! Hey, and when you're done for the day maybe we can catch a performance at the Lunar Spire! I hear this new act from a whole galaxy away is in town!"

Sapphire isn't the most social of gems. But she appreciated the offer. "I'll think about it," she says as she enters the throne room. In the middle of the spacious room sits a woman whose personality is as big as her pink curly hair. Her sleeveless cream and dark pink body suit, with pink stripes on the thighs, is rather plain, but the adorned double diamond symbol on her chest denotes royalty. She files through tedious forms of requisitions from her subjects and the neighboring quadrants. Boring work, but all in the day of a Diamond isn't glamorous. When she hears footsteps, she looks up from her work to see Sapphire approaching her. Her large eyes widen with joy as she gets up to greet her adviser and friend. "That didn't take long at all!"

"Please. You don't have to stand on my account."

"Nonsense. Now tell me all about the meeting. Did you make any headway with Topaz?"

"I'm afraid not. My premonitions were correct. The Yellow Quadrant stands behind their embargo, as do their colonies. We'll have to seek support elsewhere."

"Tiger...stubborn as ever. I should've expected nothing less."

"That brings me to my next point. Pearl contacted me via wailing stone during the meeting. They've made landfall. Construction of the Kindergarten is to begin immediately."

"Excellent! Finally. Some good news. It won't be long now." Pink Diamond walks over to a window overlooking the main city. "Look. You can see the entire quadrant from here."

"There's not much to look at" Sapphire says. Now that she's back in her comfortable state of mind, the harsh realities of Pink Quadrant life reveal themselves to her once again. Structures overtaken by time and defeated by the elements, weathered streets trampled by the feet of those who have no home.

"That's not true. See that mountain top? That's where I started training Pearl in sword fighting." She chuckles as she recounts the story, "She was so timid at first. But eager to learn. And to prove herself." Pink Diamond's trip down memory lane becomes more and more real with each passing word. She can see the scene she speaks of as clear as day. She sees her Pearl, standing on the mountain peak holding her sword as if she were scared of it. Or rather, scared of what she may do with it. She had studied basic sword fighting form from watching one of her previous masters, and created a hologram version of herself to practice with. But that was merely shadow-fencing. This was real one on one combat sparring with an opponent several times stronger and more skilled than Pearl. Her teeth chattered, both from the cold winds assaulting her face and from the fear coursing through her nonexistent veins. Pink also sees herself, standing across from Pearl. She was unwavering, unwilling to let Pearl retreat into the comfortable throws of her life as Pink Diamond's servant. Pink said to her Pearl, "Anyone can study in a comfortable palace. Sword fighting, any fighting really, must be learned with all comforts stripped bare. One must be on the edge of utter destruction and loss if they are to grasp this."

"But," Pearl interjected, "what if I don't get it?"

"Then you will die." Replied the Diamond as she drew her pink sabre. Her entire body language changed as she entered battle mode. Her eyes narrowed and focused on their targets. Her knees bent and her feet slid outward to accommodate her lowered body. Without warning she charged at Pearl, forcing the servile gem to leap backwards and almost lose her footing. Pink slashed her sword twice at Pearl, who evaded both strikes. "Don't just dodge! Fight back!"

"My Diamond! Please!"

"'Please'? Is that what you're going to say to an enemy who's trying to shatter you?!"

Pink raised her sabre high and brought it down fast, right at Pearl's head. The look on the Diamond's face was full of a ferocity that most never see in her, including her Pearl who raised her sword just in the nick of time to defend herself. Had she not known better, she would think her master was trying to kill her. She stood under the increasing weight of Pink's sword, her knees began to weaken. Truly, she wasn't a fighter, and Pink was realizing this. "Concentrate! Don't you want to live?!" Pink shouted, "Show me who you really are!" Something in those words seemed to ignite Pearl, who responded by pushing back with her own sword. Pink was pleasantly surprised to see her Pearl offer resistance, but not surprised enough to let up. She spotted an opening at Pearl's side and went for it, but Pearl blocked again. The gems locked eyes as their blades clashed sending sparks flying out. With all her might, Pearl forced Rose back and lunged forward with a thrust. She wasn't running anymore. She was learning. Pink flashed a half grin at her Pearl's efforts as she summoned her shield to block Pearl's thrust, then countered with a thrust of her own. But her thrust met its mark. Pearl has never felt anything like this before. She looked down in disbelief as the sabre rested in her stomach. "You're dead." Pink said as she looked Pearl in the eye. Pearl's attempt at a reply was cut off by a sudden burst of dust as her physical form disappeared into nothing, leaving only her gemstone. Pink gathered the stone up and made her way back down the mountain. She was proud of her Pearl. In one lesson she learned desperation, defense, and defeat: Three crucial lessons of a novice fighter. Pink had every intention of giving her a proper congratulation upon her regeneration. "Now," she said in a soft voice as she caressed the stone, "now you're really growing."

Suddenly, Pink returns to the present as Sapphire interrupts her reminiscing. "You stabbed her through the stomach?" The blue gem asks. Pink blushes a bit as she responds, "she left herself open! She should've been watching my movements instead of * _gazing_ into my eyes. It was a mistake she didn't repeat again, that's for sure!"

Sapphire looks out onto the quadrant again, taking her own trips down memory lane. Times spent with her close-knit circle of friends in the middle of the town square and late night fits of passion fill her mind. For once, she's treated to fond memories of the past instead of gruesome and confusing images of the future. She can't help but smile.

"See?" Pink Diamond exclaims, "There's so much beauty to be found here. But beauty can't fix this place." Pink's countenance turns serious as she turns to her adviser. "That's why this has to work."

"Permission to speak freely, your Hardship?"

"You know you don't have to ask. And stop calling me that."

"You worry too much. Your ideas couldn't be in more capable loyal hands. We will execute them to the best of our ability and beyond."

"I'm sure you will." Pink Diamond says before plopping herself down back into her seat in a most undignified way. "Phew! I'm done governing for the day. Take the rest of the day off, Sapphire."

"But I still have at least 6 hours of work to-"

"That's an order. YOU work too much. Go catch a show. I hear there's a new act at the Lunar Spire tonight. Spinel's gonna be presiding over the festivities, that should tell you everything you need to know."

"Hmm. I might just do that. What about you?"

"Me? I'm gonna retire to my quarters. Silence is a luxury I don't get to enjoy much these days."

"Well you enjoy that. I'll update you if anything changes. Good day, My Diamo- I mean, good day, Rose."

Pink Diamond waves as Sapphire exits. Before leaving, she secures all of the day's work and leaves it for the palace pearl to attend. Pink rarely left her work for others to do. She preferred to clean up after herself. But on this occasion, the weariness of a long week compels her to lean back on her a privileged position. As she enters her quarters, she phases into more comfortable attire and lays down on her bed. Sleep is something she picked up from an organic race on one of the many planets she'd visited over the years, and while it wasn't necessary for her to regain energy she couldn't deny the joy of relaxation. Her mind wanders as she drifts off to sleep. She imagines the Earth, her hidden jewel, teeming with activity. Peoples from across the stars come to see, and there is no corruption. When wrongdoings are committed, justice is true and swift. Most of all, there is life. Abundant life. There's more than enough to go around. The strict confines of her Homeworld don't apply here. No gem castes. No persecution of fusions. No mass mistreatment of the weak. This is her utopia. This is her life's work.

Back in the Yellow Quadrant, Topaz reaches her destination as well. The difference of quality of life couldn't be more apparent than right here in the quadrant's capital, the Golden Citadel. Solid streets of shimmering stones lie in stark contrast to the dull cracked roads of Pink Country. She exists her transport and makes her way down the bustling street, being passed by more large vehicles that crawl like 6 legged critters and smaller vehicles made for 2 that hover at various speeds. The gems here move with definite purpose, most of whom are clothed in elaborate haughty dresses or official business related body suits. Topaz keeps her head down to keep from being noticed as the fusion's slaughter is still fresh in her mind. No time tested coping methods for her. All she can do is keep her eyes to the ground as she approaches her superior, a statuesque green gem whose very presence screamed authority. "Topaz. Eyes up," she says to her subordinate. "Yes, Emerald ma'am," the meek gem responds as she does as she is told. The tight brown curls on her head could've hidden her face a bit were it not for the headband she wore bearing the Yellow Diamond insignia. Her face betrays any lie her mouth could hope to tell. "I take it you delivered the message properly," Emerald inquires. Her eyes stay focused sharply on Topaz, unmoved by the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city life. "It was-" Topaz' recounting of the meeting was internally interrupted by the gory execution, but she does her best to keep her emotions at bay. "It was satisfactory. S-7030 received our decline for support with poise and grace, as always." Emerald replies with a short but sweet "Good", then ushers Topaz into the dwelling adjacent to them. "I'll report to Yellow Diamond monetarily. Come. Keep me company for the night." In truth, Topaz had hoped she'd say these words. She was in desperate need of a friendly shoulder, and much more. Perhaps the embrace of Emerald could take her mind off of today's madness. Emerald certainly wasn't going to provide a listening ear, so this would more than suffice. As the two retreat to the private quarters, Topaz can't help but let her inner curiosity run wild despite the futility of her questioning. "Emerald? What's so wrong with fusion?"

"You, my dear, ask too many questions at all the wrong moments." Emerald replies before planting a kiss on Topaz's lips. For now, she'll have to subdue the questions begging for freedom in her consciousness.


	3. Thorns in the Side

Approximately 1.5 years after the Gems' initial landfall on Earth, the Kindergarten is up and running. The injectors do their jobs with relative ease, shooting temselen deep into the ground to let it feed off the nutrients therein. In just over a year's time, the soil yields its first earth-born gems. Most of them are large and unruly. They emerge confused, fighting off their would-be caretakers. need to be tamed. They need to be educated as to their places in gem life. Amber wastes no time in doing so. She leads the designation team, a group of gems responsible for giving the neophytes their proper welcome to earth. Whereas Pearl couched her words in flowers and pleasantries, Amber was straightforward and blunt. To a fault, sometimes. She examines the gemstone if the neophytes, chronicles their gem cuts, and gives them a destination based on her findings. The way she sees it, life is going to be hard. No reason to start it off under the false pretense that its any other way.

From a lofty watch tower, Pearl examines Amber as she ushers the newly emerged gems into the land of the living. She smiles, pleased with her work. "Amber really is taking to her position.

Her partner responds, "She's not nearly as cold as she used to be."

"I know. Pink Diamond has the power to soften the hardest heart."

"Ok, Pearl. Don't float away on me."

"We should touch base with Home! Im sure everyone here would benefit from some contact with Pink Diamond's office"

Pearl's overjoyed planning is interrupted when a worker gem bursts into the room in distress. "Pearl! Come quick! Its the humans. Theyre freaking out!"

"Again?!" The annoyed Pearl replies as she rushes out of the room to check in the commotion.

At the front entrance of the Kindergarten, a small but persistent group of humans are trying to force their way onto the injector grounds. Upon landing, the Gems had made their plans plain to the humans inhabiting the land; they would use Earth for a sort of mining operation for a few years, then be on their way back home. This was a half truth. They conveniently left out the effects of gem production on the surrounding land, as well as the earth that would be converted into structures for the gems' communication, research, culture, and battle training. Pearl had earned the trust of the chief of the humans by lying, a decision she would soon regret.

Ruby and Onyx hold the hoard back, taking every precaution as to not destroy the humans' fragile bodies. This task is growing more and more difficult by the minute. One human cries out to the gems, "we know what you're doing!" as he picks up a rock and throws it Onyx's head. The cool demeanor that usually accompanies Onyx goes right out the window as the rock hits her, knocking off her shades. She forms her crossbow to fire an explosive shot into the sky. The loud boom quiets the shaken crowd, "Anyone wanna be a candidate for death today?! If so, step up! I've got plenty more where that came from!"

With tensions rising quickly, Pearl has to think fast. She wants desperately to hold to Pink Diamond's orders of no bloodshed, but the human interference in making that promise harder and harder to keep. "That's enough, Onyx" Pearl shouts as she darts in between the gems and the humans. She turns to face the disgruntled crowd. "What is the problem? I thought we had squared everything away with your tribe's chief when we first arrived."

One of the more level headed humans step forward to speak on their behalf. "That was before you started sucking the life out of the planet! Our crops haven't grown at all since you started whatever it is you're doing over there. The trees that once bore ripe fruit now whiter and crumble like firewood."

"It's a curse!" another frantic one yells out behind his leader. "You all have cursed the ground! You've angered the gods by meddling with the earth and now we're all doomed!"

The leader of the group steps back up. "We were content to let you work beside us, but we can't sit by and watch this happen any longer."

Pearl grows tired of these superstitions, although they're not totally unfounded. Suddenly, she is bludgeoned with an idea so crazy it just might work."Clearly, humans are not meant to be in the same space as gemkind. It would be irresponsible of us to endanger them like this. So we should make sure they have their own designated area. We'll even put up a protective barrier to keep them safe from our ongoing projects."

Onyx dissolves her crossbow and stares at Pearl with a mix of frustration and confusion. "You? Want to protect them? Why? They're in OUR way. They should know by now who's running this show." Pearl continues with the explanation of her plan, unfazed by Onyx's criticism. "We can start on it right away! Ruby, have your team construct a force field wall around the human's encampment. Onyx, double the security detail. We can't afford even a single setback!" Pearl's overzealous insisting does it's job, and before the day is done the ruby team has successfully created a gated wall around the human village near the Kindergarten. Naturally, the humans resist, but they have little say in the matter. The gems are here for the long haul, and further human interference will not be tolerated.

Despite her hot temper, Ruby is quite sympathetic. Perhaps this is due to her early life in Homeworld as a lowly manual laborer, where she faced all manner of mistreatment and disrespect. For whatever reason, she can't help but notice the malnutrition taking place in the human camp a week after its construction. "They look pretty hungry. We should get em some food or somethin," she remarks to Amber, who already had 5000 other things on her mind. She snaps back at Ruby, "im not a human dietary specialist."

"well neither am I! But, I dont know, we cant just let them starve!" Ruby says as she returns her attention to the humans. She watches them groan and hold their stomachs, cough and cry. She recalls watching humans hunt four legged animals before, so she goes outside to fetch one. It doesn't take her long to find a small furry critter and bring it to the gate of the human camp and offer it to them...alive. "Here," she says, "don't want you dying on my watch."

"what are we supposed to do with that? Its not even dead, let alone cooked."

"Cooked? What the hell is that?"

Before the bickering can continue, and older male takes the critter and kills it himself. He doesn't say as much, but he is grateful for Ruby's generosity and good intentions.

Satisfied with the placement of the humans, Pearl summons her partners into the main office to do their long awaited conference call with Pink Diamond.

A familiar voice emits from the panel; "Helloooo? This is the Pink Office."

"Aqua? Its me, Pearl!

"Pearly! Hows every little thing on Earth?" says Aquamarine as she spins around in her chair.

"Aqua, please put Pink Diamond on."

"Hmph. You never let me have any fun."

Pink Diamond enters the room, anxious to speak to her Earth team. "My Pearl!"

"My Diamond." Pearl says in response, bowing as if Pink were right in front of her.

"How is everything coming along?"

"Fantastically! We've just completed another temple in the western hemisphere, and the Kindergarten is steadily pushing out new life. Soon we're going to run out of room!"

Amidst Pearl's fangirling, Amber emerges with some figures of her own. "My Diamond, we're discovering some fascinating new minerals on this planet. The soil here is so rich, it's practically drunk with nutrients. The scientists back home will have a field day here."

Pink Diamond chuckles at Amber's monotone excitement, "I'm sure they will. How are the locals taking the occupation? I imagine it's not easy."

Pearl hesitates to answer, as she recalls the groans of the humans cooped up in their encampment. "The locals?! They …love us! They practically worship us!"

Not one to lie, Ruby simply turns away and folds her arms. She knows Pink Diamond most likely won't question her directly, as she usually has very little to say. Onyx, on the other hand, is doubling over in laughter. She remembers how flustered Pearl looked as she through herself in front of the humans. "As if she cares about those meatbags", she says under her breath, still convinced that Pearl only intervened to keep her spotless record with Pink Diamond.

The Gem Matriarch notices the hesitation in Pearl's voice. She's spent enough time with her to know when she's trying to cover something up. Pearl was always so obsessive over tiny details: a partially swept floor, a meeting only a few minutes off schedule, these were enough to send Pearl into a tailspin. So Pink just chalked it up to some social snafu. "Well don't let them give you to big a head, Pearl" she says with a snarky grin. "I'm so glad to hear things are going well. I promise, as soon as things clear up here I'll come visit. Onyx, you're awfully quiet. You always have something colorful to add to the conversation."

Onyx, having recovered from her laughing fit, musters up a half hearted reply. "Only when needed, Fearless Leader." she says, deciding not to throw Pearl under the bus.

As the conversation progresses, Pearl grows increasingly anxious. She doesn't want to crack and admit what's really going on, so she rushes the call to an end. "Well, look at the time! I'm sorry, your Hardship, but duty awaits us all. We will check in with you periodically, I promise!"

"Very well. Keep up the good work. I'm proud of all of your efforts and I expect nothing but the best, just as you've delivered."

The gems starts filing out the room, with Ruby in back, when the com opens back up. A voice comes forward speaking Ruby's name. She pauses in mid step, knowing full well who that voice belongs to. Slowly she turns around, as if the speaker where in the room with her. "S-Sapphire?!"

"Good. You haven't forgotten my voice" Sapphire replies on the other end. The teasing jeers of other gems can be heard in the background but she ignores them

"No! How could I ever forget the most perfect voice in the universe?"

Sapphire giggles. "Ruby, you're still as corny as ever."

"Hey, it made ya laugh, didnt it? Mission accomplished." Ruby says proudly as a toothy grin takes over her face.

Sapphire is elated to here every cheesy line from Ruby's mouth. The lack of her fiery voice bellowing through the Pink Palace makes the days drag in the worst ways. "I miss you. Things aren't the same without you around" she says.

"Yeah. Same here. That's why you gotta hurry up and come over here!"

"Im needed here, Ruby. You know that."

"You're needed here, too." Ruby can barely contain her intense longing. This is the first time she's actually heard Sapphire's voice since before she left for Earth, and she knows how scarce these conversations will be. Ruby is almost always neck deep in the construction of a new gem structure, and the political affairs of Homeworld demand Sapphire's constant advisory. Ruby doesn't want to talk over a transmitter, or even a visio-gram. She wants the real deal, she wants her Sapphire live and in living color. Even though she knows intellectually that this is not a feasible option, it doesn't stop her from wanting it with every fiber of her corundum. Before she can offer a consoling word, Sapphire's attention is suddenly called away from her reunion. Her presence is needed elsewhere. She makes them wait for a few more moments. "Well, it seems as if-"

"Yeah. I heard. Listen, umm...we should do this more often."

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

"Ok" Sapphire says, with a soft bittersweet smile. "Well, I shouldn't keep them waiting any longer. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait!"

"Yes?  
"Um… nothing. It can wait. Later, Sapph." Ruby hangs her head as she walks away after the transmission ends. Always one to put others, especially Sapphire, before herself, she doesn't want to take up Sapphire's time with more mushy nonsense if she has work to do. But there was so much left unsaid. What would Sapphire think of the human encampment? Would she find it repulsive? Sapphire thinks similar thoughts about her own unsaid words. She still hasn't spoken of the executed fusion from over a year ago. Her particular gift gives her the curse of knowing that some day in the future, she and Ruby will fuse, and it won't be the first time.


End file.
